The Return of John Smith
by LadyEliseB
Summary: The 10th Doctor returns to wartime London, but has had to hide his memories again. With no companion to help him remember who he is, how can he save a hospital from the evil that lurks in the basement? 10th Doctor, Nancy, Jamie and a surprise...
1. Chapter 1

A/N unusually for me, this story contains mainly canon characters. I really liked Nancy in _The Empty Child_ and wanted to see how she and Jamie fared. So I thought I'd write a story where she could realistically feature. Of course, she hasn't 'met' the 10th Doctor, hence her not knowing him in this.

Thank you to my previous reviewers. Comments on this story equally welcome.

**The Return of John Smith**

The tenth Doctor hunted the Tardis for something suitable. Why had he ever given that watch away to Tim Latimer? There wasn't time to go and find Tim and ask for it back. Maybe he could find a way to empty the globe holding the Carrionite. No, too dangerous. He didn't want to unleash that unholy trio on the universe.

If they landed in this era, with the whole world in such a state of darkness, then there'd be no end to their feeding frenzy. He'd tried to lead them away, far into the future to a planet where there was very little light and very little life, but the Tardis had other ideas. It suggested to the Doctor that it was him they wanted, which was why the Tardis was intent on taking him elsewhere.

"Rose..." he said, looking around the Tardis. "Okay, then, Martha? Donna? Sarah Jane? Jack, I'll even settle for you as long as you don't flirt with everything on two legs ... or on any number of legs for that matter." It came to him how completely alone he was again.

That's when it came to him. He knew exactly where he could find Jack. It would take some planning, to arrive before his previous incarnation and Rose did, and he'd have to convince Jack that he wasn't really a conman, but actually a hero in the making. He didn't think Jack realised that when they first met. He only became heroic by accident.

No, it wasn't working. The Tardis didn't want to land in the early 1940s. It was running a couple of years ahead of that. The Doctor just had time to put his memories into the receptacle he found at the last minute before the Tardis landed with a thump.

John Smith woke up and wondered what on earth he was doing in this strange room. By the time he left the Tardis, hidden away in the underground, he had forgotten ever being in there.

1945

He heard her coming down the staircase, her son in tow.

"Come on, Jamie, you'll be late for school. And if I'm late again, Matron will fire me. I can't let Doctor Constantine down. Not after he put his trust in me. Oh..." Nancy hesitated. "Hello, Mr Smith. Are you settling in all right?"

"Yes, yes, thanks," said John Smith.

"Not what you're used to though. A tiny bedsit."

"Well, in these dark days we have to make the best of a bad situation don't we?"

"Some of us more than others," said Nancy, remembering her days of foraging for food. "I still can't fight the feeling I know you from somewhere."

"Did you ever go to school in Yorkshire?"

"With this accent? I don't think so," said Nancy in her clear cockney twang.

"No, of course not. Come along, Jamie, you and I can walk together," said John.

"It's all right, Sir," said Jamie.

"Oh, I get it," said John. "It wouldn't do to turn up for school with the teacher, eh?"

"Not really, Sir. The other kids would have me guts for garters."

"Very well, I'll give you a head start shall I?" John winked at Nancy, who smiled gratefully.

"May I at least walk you part of the way, Miss Smith?"

No one thought it odd that they shared the same surname. After all, Smith was a common name in England. There were at least three more Smiths in various lodging houses on the street.

"Thank you. I'd like that," said Nancy. She hesitated again, wondering if it was a good idea. She didn't want people to talk. Doctor Constantine had done a lot to help her hide the fact of Jamie's illegitimate status, by suggesting she say she was a young widow, whose husband had died during the war. There were so many women with the same story, Nancy hardly stood out.

"Anything wrong?" asked John.

"No, no it's okay. It's just. Well, you know how people talk around here."

"Walking together in the broad daylight is hardly grounds for salacious gossip."

"No, but living in the same boarding house is."

"Well, we'll just have to be careful not to fall in love and prove them right, won't we?"

Nancy actually blushed. If she were honest, she was already drawn to this man. Not just because he was very handsome but also because she felt he was someone she could trust. Someone she had trusted.

"Was it difficult?" she asked, as they walked towards the school and hospital. It was a bright, early summer morning, and Nancy felt optimistic. There was talk of the war being over. She had an idea that she and Jamie would move to the country when it ended. Somewhere they weren't known at all. She was sure they needed nurses in rural hospitals. "Being in prison, I mean?" She'd sailed close to that herself at times in the early years of the war, scavenging to help the other children.

"No, because I wasn't alone. There were other conscientious objectors in there too. It's been harder on the outside. If it were not for Doctor Constantine vouching for me, I wouldn't have got the job at the school."

"Yes, he's good like that. Funny about you knowing him too. He never mentioned you. I was very sorry when he died."

"Yes, me too. He was a good man."

"Yes, he was, especially when..." Nancy stopped. "I thought you were very brave to stand up for what was right. I know it's not what I'm supposed to say. We're all supposed to think this war is a great thing, even though thousands of men are dying, and I do think Hitler should be stopped, but using young men as cannon fodder. We've got men in the hospital who will never be the same again. And if we do manage to repair them, they're just sent back out there to fight some more."

"Yes, it's very sad. Very sad. Well, this is me," said John as they reached the school gates. "I'll perhaps see you later."

"Yes, I'm sure we'll bump into each other."

Jamie hid around the corner until they'd gone, and then crept back into the house. Mr Smith never locked his door. He was a bit gullible like that. Trusted everyone, which Jamie knew you should never do. His mother had taught him that. She said the only people he could ever trust were the two doctors. Constantine and the other doctor who they'd met a few years before.

"They're the only two men who've ever done right by me," Nancy had told him. He got the feeling she'd been a bit sweet on the other doctor, though Mr Smith seemed to be distracting her.

He crept around Mr Smith's bedsit. It didn't take long, and there wasn't much to see. An old shaving mirror with a block of soap, a cutthroat razor and a brush. In the top drawer of the dresser were some socks, underpants and vests. In the next drawer down were sweaters and trousers. It was the bottom drawer that got Jamie's interest. It seemed an odd place to keep it. Why not near the stove where it would be more use? Jamie wondered if he could swap it for something at school. Some of the kids knew American airmen who visited their mums whilst their dads were off fighting. He might be able to get a bar of chocolate. Jamie scooped the object up, and was about to put it in his pocket when he heard a strange sound coming from it. Like voices.

"They're coming ... beware of the dark," the voices said. Jamie shoved the item into his satchel and left the bedsit, realising he'd be late for school after all.


	2. Chapter 2

The Return of John Smith 2

Nancy carried on towards the hospital, and was surprised to find that Reg Turner had been following her. He was a young man of about thirty.

"I wish you wouldn't do that, Reg."

"I saw you with that coward. You shouldn't talk to him. He's a disgrace to this country. They should have done what they did to some of those conscientious objectors in the First World War and shot him."

"So why aren't you off fighting the cause, Reg?" said Nancy, pointedly. The idea of John Smith being shot obviously upset her.

"I've got medical grounds," said Reg, bristling.

"Oh, yeah, your burst eardrum. A right disability that. It's a wonder you can function." They'd reached the gates of the hospital, and Nancy started heading for the wards, whilst Reg turned towards the entrance to the basement.

"Hey, I'd fight if I could!" he called after her.

Reg stormed down into the basement. He wasn't like John Smith. He would fight if he could. He was brave enough. It wasn't his fault that he turned out the way he did. He just hoped Nancy would never find out the truth. That the army's refusal to let him join had nothing to do with a burst eardrum. He blushed to remember the medical exam, and the disgusted look on the doctor's face. Then having to face the same look on the face of the Commanding Officer.

"We don't want your kind," the CO had said.

"What? Human?" Reg had replied.

"Barely," said the CO. The CO then went on to tell Reg that he was lucky he wasn't arrested for his deviancy. "But we have other concerns at the moment. Now get out."

At least he could pretend to fancy Nancy for the sake of everyone who knew them. She need never know the truth. They might even marry. It wasn't like he hadn't been with girls before he realised the truth. If only John Smith hadn't bloody turned up and spoiled his plans.

The basement was dark, which wasn't unusual, but it seemed darker than ever to Reg.

"Stan," he called, expecting the janitor from the night shift to be around. They usually met as they changed shifts. Probably hiding some contraband, thought Reg. Old Stan was always good for a bit of chocolate and baccy. "Stan, where are you, you idle bugger? We've got to stoke the furnace up." Reg rounded a corner, then fell back in horror, before laughing. "Bloody medical students," he said, picking up the skeleton that had been sitting in Stan's chair. "Like this joke never gets old..." Only when the ring fell off a finger - Stan's signet ring with the ornate letter S in the centre - did Reg realise who he really did hold. The skeleton clattered to the ground and Reg turned and ran.

"You're late again, Nurse Smith."

"Yes, sorry, Matron. I had to get Jamie ready for school..."

"No excuses. I've heard them all. Jamie is sick. Jamie had no clean trousers for school. Jamie this, Jamie that. It makes me wonder whether I should take on a single mother."

"I ain't single. I've been married," said Nancy, defensively.

"I didn't mean that. I mean that ... Oh never mind. I want you to work on the top floor today."

"What? With the mental patients?"

"Do you have a problem with that?"

"No. No. It's okay. It's just. Well, they give me the creeps."

"Then spending more time with them will help you get used to their company. Of course, if you're not as reliable as Doctor Constantine said..."

"I am, Matron. I am. I'll go and start work, shall I?"

Nancy went towards the stairs, thinking what a miserable old trout Matron was. She had to be at least sixty, but as far as Nancy knew she'd never married and didn't have any kids. Otherwise she'd be more understanding to the nurses who did. "I bet she's never even been in love," Nancy said to herself as she climbed the stairs. "Not that anyone could love her back."

It was late in the afternoon when Jamie fell in the playground. Well the other kids said he fell, but John Smith had a feeling Trevor Jenkins had something to do with it. They'd been arguing over something. Like his dad, Stan, Trevor was a bit of a spiv. Always trading things with the other kids. The school turned a blind eye for the most part, but they shouldn't ignore bullying. John felt strongly about that.

It was Jamie's reaction that was the strangest though. He's simply fallen awkwardly on his hand, leaving a cut across the top where it caught a jagged piece of concrete, but anyone would think he'd had the hand chopped off the way he reacted. "I need to go to the hospital. I want my mummy," he'd sobbed.

"Jamie, there's no need to go to the hospital just for a cut," said John, picking Jamie up off the ground.

"I'm going," said Jamie, running towards the school gates. John had no choice but to follow him, shouting to another teacher to dismiss his class for him.

John was fit, but Jamie was younger, so kept ahead of John all the way to the hospital. "Jamie, hold up!" said John. "It's only a cut. It'll heal." Why on earth was the child panicked by something so simple?

John finally caught up with Jamie at the entrance to the hospital.

"I want my mummy," he said to the nurse on reception.

"It's Jamie, isn't it? Mummy is on the top floor. I'll send a message to her..."

She didn't get time to finish, as Jamie was already sprinting up the staircase, two steps at a time.

John stood in the reception, catching his breath.

"I'll be glad when summer comes properly and we don't have so many dark nights," said the nurse, for something to say.

"Yes, we could use some sunshine," said John. "Excuse me." With that, he followed Jamie up the staircase, narrowly missing bumping into Matron as she came down.

She'd passed him and was on the bottom step, when she spun around and said, "It can't be." She was about to follow him, when Reg came from the basement.

"Matron, there's no sign of Stan. I've checked with his house and he'd not there."

"I'm sure he must be somewhere around, Reg. You don't honestly think he was that skeleton, do you? I can assure you that a dead body takes some time to decompose, and as I saw Stan last night as he was going on his shift, I can assure you there hasn't been enough time for it to happen to him. Now if you'll excuse me, I must be going. You'd better get back downstairs and stoke the boiler. There's going to be a frost tonight."

Reg caught her arm. "Matron, there's something down in the basement. I can feel it in the shadows. I've lit every candle I could find and ..."

"That's very wasteful, Reg, especially during wartime..."

"I'm telling you, there's something hiding in the basement. Something that took Stan's skin."

"I can assure you that such things aren't possible. We live in enlightened times, Reg and ..." Matron stopped, and looked up the stairs. "Unless. Oh no. What has he brought with him this time?"

"Excuse me?" said Reg. Matron, like Jamie, took the stairs two at a time. "Matron Redfern, what is it?"

"Come with me, Reg. If he's who I think he is, it's all his fault and he can damn well help clear up the mystery of Stan!"


	3. Chapter 3

A/N I really ought to proof read better. I realised that I'd put the end of WW2 as being late in the year (about September) in earlier chapters, when it actually ended in May 1945. I've remedied that now, but it'll teach me to do my research before writing a story!

I've no idea what time the sun set in May 1945, so please allow me a little bit of artistic licence here in deciding it was around 5pm in the evening.

The Return of John Smith 3

The candles burned in the basement, reaching almost every corner. It was so warm, that the furnace was almost secondary to requirements. Only one small area, deep in the recesses of the building, was still dark. Slowly, but surely, the darkness spread, seeping across the floor, as one by one, the candles went out, as if blown by a hidden breeze.

Outside, the night was falling, and a chill frost crept along the London streets. Soon, because of the blackout, there would be shadows everywhere. Shadows that were the perfect breeding ground for millions of Vashta Nerada spores. If only they could reach the streets.

In his haste to be out of the basement, Reg had left the door ajar. The shadows crept through the crack and into the stairwell, seeping up the walls. A young nurse, who'd been sent to collect some supplies from a storeroom in the basement, came down the stairs. The candle she carried did nothing to alleviate the shadows, as she took her last step into the darkness beneath.

It had been a tough day for Nancy. It wasn't that she had any real problems with the mental patients, only that they unnerved her so. Especially one old man, who had greeted her that morning with the news,

"He's coming back. The doctor is coming back."

"I don't think so, dear," said Nancy. "Doctor Constantine has retired to the country now."

"You know which doctor I mean," said the old man.

Nancy had felt a shiver down her spine. And a glimmer of hope. Could the old man mean who she thought he meant? That Doctor? She would love to meet him again. He'd been a bit old for her, but still she'd felt a strong attraction to him. Pretty much like the attraction she felt for John Smith.

"Now if only you had some of his qualities," she thought, then pushed the uncharitable thought away. She admired John Smith for not fighting, didn't she? It was just that she believed the Doctor would have stood up and fought for his country. Whatever that country might be. No, it wasn't fair. She either wanted an adventurer like the Doctor or a quiet, reliable man like John Smith. She couldn't have it both ways.

She'd just been about to move away from the old man, when he grabbed her wrist. "And they're coming to get him."

"Who are?"

"It's getting dark," said the old man. But it was still daylight outside. Nancy could see it peeking through the cracks in the blackout blinds, casting a grim light onto the psychiatric ward, giving its inhabitants the look of people already dead. "They'll be here as soon as it's dark. And so will he."

Nancy felt unnerved, and hurried on to do some other work. But for the rest of the day she felt jumpy and strained. She would be glad when the day was over and she could get home to Jamie.

It was past the residents' teatime, and they were sitting in the day room with their cups of tea, when Jamie came hurtling into the room, sobbing. "Mummy, mummy, my hand." He held out his hand to her, and she saw the all too familiar cut.

"Oh, Jamie, it's okay," she said, taking him into her arms. "That's all over, love. They're not coming back, and they never meant to hurt you in the first place."

The old man sitting in the corner muttered, "That's an empty child, that is."

"Shut up!" Nancy cried. "Just shut up! He's not empty. He's full of love. He's full of me."

A few seconds later, John Smith entered the ward, gasping for breath. "Those stairs..." he said in between gulps, "How do you manage them several times a day? Can't you get a lift?"

"We're not one of your big posh hospitals," said Nancy, smiling a little. Jamie still clung to her.

"Doctor," said the old man in the corner. "You've arrived."

"No, this isn't the doctor," said Nancy. "This is Mr Smith."

"Ah, your husband," said an old woman.

"No." Nancy blushed. "Not my husband. I ain't ... I mean, he's not related or anything. We just live in the same house. Not together though. In different bedsits."

"Methinks she protests too much," said the old woman.

Nancy was just about to open her mouth when Matron, closely followed by Reg, arrived in the day room. Nancy braced herself for the telling off that she'd get for Jamie being in her place of work. So she was surprised when instead of shouting at her, Matron went up to John Smith and slapped his face.

"What?" said John, rubbing his cheek. "What was that for?"

"You ... you come here and automatically strange things start happening. And ..." Joan Redfern stopped to look at him more closely. "You haven't aged at all. How can that be when I'm an old woman? It doesn't seem fair. Oh yes, I remember. You're a time traveller. How long is it since you left me. A week? Two weeks? It can't be much longer than a year. You've hardly changed at all."

"I'm sorry, but I've no idea what you're talking about," said John. "I've never met you in my life."

Joan glared at him, and looked as if she might hit him again. "Oh, no. Don't tell me you're hiding out again. Okay, where is it this time?"

To Nancy's amazement, the Matron started searching John Smith's pockets. Joan took out a pocket watch and opened it, as if she expected something to happen. "So, not a pocket watch this time. What then? Please, I need to know so you can start being the Doctor again and get us out of the mess you no doubt got us into."

"The Doctor?" said Nancy. "You know the Doctor?"

"Yes," said Joan. "And that's him, standing there. Oh, not you too. Did he leave you heartbroken too? With friends and neighbours dead?"

"No, everybody lived," said Nancy, quietly. "Besides, that's not him. I've met him and he doesn't look like that."

"Maybe there are two Doctors," said Joan. "He had a little book last time, and there were a few pictures in it. He doesn't seem to have one this time, at least not on him."

"I really don't know what you're talking about," said John. "I'm John Smith, and I'm a conscientious objector, now working in a school thanks to Doctor Constantine giving me a good reference. I don't know who this other Doctor is."

"We don't have time for this," said Reg, who'd been listening intently. "We need to find out what happened to Stan and ..." Before he could finish his sentence, they heard a commotion from the stairwell. People; nurses, doctors and the patients who could walk, were all making their way to the top of the building. Nearly all of them carried candles.

"There's something down there," said a young doctor who got to the top first. "Something killing lights, then killing people. Five medical staff and six patients. All that was left was ... All there was were ..." And with that, the young man threw up. 


	4. Chapter 4

The Return of John Smith 4

Joan Redfern veered between anger at him turning up in her life again - just when she thought she'd put it all behind her - and a certainty that he was the only man who could help them out of the predicament they were in. Which made her angrier still.

"There are still bedridden patients downstairs," said the junior doctor, whose name was David Fletcher.

"Then we'll go and fetch them," said Joan, glad to have a reason to take control. At least it stopped her having to look at John Smith.

"I'm not going back down there," said David. "I've seen what it does. It strips the skin off people." He turned away and started retching again.

"Get a hold of yourself, man," said Joan. "You're supposed to be a doctor." But he wasn't listening. He'd crawled into a corner and lay in a foetal position, sobbing to himself. "I need some help," said Joan. "Who'll come with me? I need someone to help carry the patients up, and someone to carry a light. There's a gas lantern in the nurse's office, and some candles in the drawer. Well?"

She looked around the room expectantly. Most of the people, medical staff included, took a step back.

"I'll help," said John Smith.

"So will I," said Reg, not to be outdone.

"I'll carry the lantern," said Nancy. She turned to Jamie. "I want you to stay here, love. Don't come down the stairs."

"I want to help," said Jamie.

"I know you do, so you can stay here and find more candles, then make sure they stay lit. There'll be some in the storeroom at the end of the ward. Just don't go in there without a light, okay?"

Glad to be given something to do, Jamie agreed.

John Smith, Joan, Nancy and Reg got together the things they needed, including a stretcher and some lanterns, then began to make their way down the stairwell.

"Stay out of the shadows," said John Smith, who'd started to lead the way. Joan wondered if it was a natural instinct for him, regardless of who he thought he was.

"How far up did David say they'd got?"

"To the second floor," said Nancy. "But that was then."

"There are a lot more lights on the third floor," said Joan. "It's where most of the operating theatres are," she explained to John Smith. "So perhaps they haven't got any further yet. Whatever they are. Can you think? What might be following you?"

"No one," said John Smith. "I told you, I've been in prison for two years." They continued down the stairs as they spoke.

"Which prison?"

"Excuse me?"

"Which prison were you in? Who did you meet there? Did you make friends? Did anyone come to visit you? Family, friends?"

"I ... I don't remember," said John Smith. "I don't think I have anyone."

"What about Martha? Where did you leave her?"

"I don't know anyone called Martha."

"Yes you do. The black girl who worked as a maid at the school. The one who said she was training to be a doctor. What about the blonde girl? From your book? And that box thing you've got to travel in?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." John had started whispering as they'd reached the third floor. They could see the shadows down the centre of the stairwell. "Keep to the wall," he said. "They might jump across from the stairwell." He didn't explain how he knew that. "Are there any patients on this floor?" he asked Jean. "I mean, if it's just the operating theatres, then perhaps we've come to far."

"There'll be some in the recovery room. We had three operations today. One in-growing toenail, one appendicectomy and one gallstone removal. We were supposed to take them back to the ward at around six o'clock. The in-growing toenail patient might be able to walk up, or limp up, but we'll have to carry the others."

"Okay. Show us where they are. We'll take the appendix patient first. Reg, come with me. Nancy, you go and find the in-growing toenail patient and help them up the stairs."

"What about the lantern?"

"There's enough light here, I reckon."

"And what am I to do?" asked Joan, feeling redundant.

"When you've shown us where the appendix patient is, go and prepare the gallstone patient. We'll get back as soon as we can."

Five minutes later, John Smith and Reg were carrying the stretcher up the stairs. It was much harder than when Reg had carried it down on his back, as they had to be sure not to jostle the patient too much. Nancy was ahead of them, moving painfully slowly with the woman who'd had her in-growing toenail done.

"Just a few more steps," said Nancy, gently.

"You keep saying that," said the woman. "I'm not even sure I'm supposed to be walking. It hurts so much."

"I know, dear, but we need to get you to the top floor." Nancy's slow progress made it even harder for John and Reg.

"This hospital needs a lift," said John. "How on earth do you manage, carrying all these people up and down the stairs?"

"We just do," said Nancy. "Because we have to. Come on, dear, just a few more steps."

"You said that two flights ago," said the woman. But they'd reached the top floor. John and Reg were only a few steps behind, gasping as they put the stretcher onto the floor.

Two of the other medical staff helped lift the patient off the floor and onto an empty bed.

"Hurry," said John, as he and Reg picked up the stretcher. "I've only just realised how stupid it was to leave Joan down there on her own."

"How did you know that?"

"That she was on her own? Because I left her down there."

"No, that her name was Joan?"

"Someone told me, didn't they? Didn't they?"

"No."

That was when they heard her scream. The noise echoed up the stairwell, chilling them to the bone. 


	5. Chapter 5

The Return of John Smith - The End

John Smith flew down the stairs and found Joan standing with her back against the wall in the third floor stairwell. She held a candle in her hand, as if it were a weapon.

"What happened? Joan, are you all right?"

"The lights," she gasped. "The lights have gone out. The patient ... we're too late, John. The patient is ..."

"It's okay," said John, holding her in his arms. "We'll go back up stairs."

"There are other patients, on floors four and five, we have to get them."

John wasn't listening. He was too busy watching the shadow that crept up the centre of the stairwell. "We're too late," he said. "I'm sorry, but we can't help them. We need to get to safety."

"They turned the lights out," said Joan. "How did they do that?"

"I don't know."

He led her back up the stairs, guided by Reg and Nancy, who both carried lights. Reg a candle and Nancy a lantern. When they got to the fifth floor, Nancy slipped and fell against the banister. Reg just managed to pull her back, before the shadow was able to take her arm.

"Thanks," she said.

"I'll walk on that side," he said. "You stay near the wall."

The upper floor was a blaze of lights.

"You go on," said Reg. "I'll stay in the stairwell, just in case it comes further up."

"Reg, you might not get a chance to warn us," said John. "Come inside, where it's safe."

"No, it's okay. I'll stay here. It's about time I did something brave."

"You've been very brave," said John. He held out his hand, and was surprised when Reg didn't take it.

"You too," said Reg. "But let's not get soppy, shall we?"

"Are you okay, Reg?" asked Nancy. "You don't look well."

"I'm okay. Go on, to Jamie. Oh, and Nancy," he said when John and Joan had gone into the room. "I'm sorry if I've misled you about stuff."

"What stuff?"

"Me. I don't really fancy you."

"Oh thanks."

"I mean, I don't fancy any woman."

"Do you think we don't know that, Reg Turner? It's the worst kept secret in the hospital. Look, when this is all over, come around for tea with Jamie and me. We need friends like you."

"Yeah, I'd like that. Thanks Nancy."

She reached up to kiss him, but he backed away quickly. "You really don't like girls, do you?" she said, laughing.

"I like you."

Nancy smiled, but her face held a hint of sadness. Something about Reg had changed, but she didn't know what. Maybe it was the experience, she thought as she went to join Jamie and the others.

"Couldn't we take people out on the fire escape?" she asked.

"I suppose we could," said Joan.

"No, no we can't," said John. "If we open that door, we could unleash that thing on London. It's still nighttime out there.

They sat the night out, making sure the candles were kept lit so that there were no shadows in the ward at all. John watched Reg through the window in the door to the stairwell. The young man seemed to be in some sort of turmoil. On occasions he seemed to be talking to himself. But despite their best efforts, he refused to come into the ward. He insisted he'd keep watch in the stairwell.

"Sir," said Jamie, as dawn approached. They could see faint slits of light through the blackout curtains. "Sir, I've got something to tell you."

"What is it, Jamie?" asked John.

"I stole something off you, Sir."

"Jamie!" said Nancy. "What did you do that for? You know it's wrong to steal."

"It didn't used to be, mum," said Jamie, referring to their earlier escapades.

"That was different."

"It doesn't matter, Jamie," said John. "I can't even think what you'd take. I don't have that much."

Jamie reached into his satchel. "It's your egg timer, Sir. It's very nice. Gold and everything. I was going to swap it."

Jamie held the egg-timer aloft, and straight away the voices started again. John backed away. "I don't want it," he said. "Take it away. I don't want it!"

Before anyone could say anything, Joan snatched the egg-timer from Jamie and threw it to the ground, smashing it into pieces. A bright light shone from every grain of sand, lighting up the darkened room, and finding John Smith where he stood terrified against the wall.

The whole room watched in awe, as an almost visible change came over the quiet young teacher.

"Nancy? Jamie? Blimey, fancy meeting you two again. That was an adventure we had with Rose and Jack, wasn't it? And Joan." His voice became softer. "That slap really hurt, you know?"

"It was meant to, and now you're back, perhaps you could get us out of this mess."

"Oh yes, the Vashta Nerada. I was trying to outrun them. They weren't very happy at me taking away their food source at the library, and a few had managed to escape when we did. Attached themselves to one of the ships taking out survivors, I think."

"But why did they come here?" asked Joan. "Why not to your lodgings?"

"Oh," the Doctor looked around. "This is Doctor Constantine's place isn't it? Where Jamie and all the other gasmask people were. They must have sensed my essence from before and found it."

"So once again people died because of you," said Joan, only she was less angry than she'd been before. She was beginning to understand the sort of life he led. The way he always tried to do his best for everyone, but somehow still brought death and destruction. "But never mind that now. How are we going to get out? And how are we going to stop them getting out?"

"Oh I ... er ... hang on, what date is it?"

"It's May the ninth."

"Of course," said the Doctor. "The war is over!"

"Is it?"

He didn't answer Joan, he just went to one of the windows and pulled down the blackout curtain, flooding the ward with light.

"The air raid warden will go mad," said Nancy, but she'd caught on and was pulling down another blackout curtain. Others took the cue, and soon the room was completely flooded with light.

"Right," said the Doctor, "start getting the patients down the fire escape. I'll go and deal with Reg."

"What do you mean, deal with Reg?" said Nancy, but he wasn't listening.

Joan, Nancy and the rest of the medical staff started helping the patients out onto the fire escape. "Get them as far away as possible," said the Doctor. "And whatever you do, don't let anyone stand in any shadows, just in case."

He opened the door to the stairwell, and found Reg bent double against the banister. "Does it hurt very badly, Reg?" asked the Doctor.

"How did you know?"

"You've been fighting them since you stopped them taking Nancy. You were so keen on helping her, you didn't watch what you were doing. I imagine they've already taken your hand."

"Yes, then they realised they could use me to get to the top floor."

"And you've been fighting them ever since."

"It's nearly over. They only wanted you. The rest were just ... fodder." Reg turned, and for the first time the Doctor could see his eyes. They were black. "They knew you'd come once you worked out who you were."

"So now you're supposed to let them jump from you to me."

"Something like that. But I'm going to die anyway, aren't I? They've eaten away a good part of me." Reg raised his hand, but it was clear from his face that he had no control over it. "Doctor ... that's what they call you, isn't it? Doctor, when this is over ... Ah!" He bent over, in agony. "Flame," he gasped. "They fear the flame."

With the last part of him and every bit of energy he had left, Reg turned and lifted his body over the centre of the stairwell, hurling himself to the bottom floor.

The lantern that Nancy had used the night before still burned near the nurse's station. The Doctor ran to get it, and then dragged some blankets off the bed. He lit one and threw it over the stairwell, watching it fall to the bottom floor, landing on what was left of Reg. AT the top of the stairs, he bundled a few blankets together, poured some of the oil on them and lit those.

"Doctor!" It was Jean, who'd come back from the fire escape. "What are you doing? Where's Reg."

"I'll tell you when we get out of here. Come on," he caught her arm, and they managed to get out of the stairwell before it erupted in flames.

Joan, Nancy, Jamie and the Doctor watched as the hospital burned down. When the fire service arrived, the Doctor used his psychic paper to convince them that he was a government official sent to ensure that a disease that infected the hospital and threatened to spread through London was incinerated. It wasn't far from the truth.

"I suppose you'll be off again now," said Joan.

"Come with me. All of you," said the Doctor, including Nancy and Jamie in the invitation.

"No, I can't," said Nancy. "What you do is wonderful. But it's also horrible and I think me and Jamie have seen enough horrors in this war." She held out her hand. "I do hope we meet again one day. Come on, Jamie, let's go." She turned back. "Someone has to tell Reg's mum how brave he was."

"Bravest man I ever met," said the Doctor. He and Joan watched as Nancy and Jamie walked away hand in hand. "Come with me," he said, softly.

"In case you hadn't noticed, I'm an old woman. I'm even less suited to the life you lead than I was when we first met. No, I managed a life without you, and I'll manage again. But I wish you well, John, really I do." She reached up and kissed his cheek, she walked away and then turned back and smiled. "I hope you won't be alone too long."

"I'm better alone," he said, but she was already out of earshot and it was doubtful that she'd have believed him anyway.

The End. 


End file.
